ipl-logo

Mental Health Law Enforcement

1509 Words7 Pages

Law Enforcement and Mental Health “One of my first calls on the MHU (Mental Health Unit) was of a gentleman having a psychotic episode. He had jumped out of my patrol car on the way to the hospital, took off running down the main street, screaming ‘Satan is chasing me God HELP me! Don’t let Satan catch me again!’ all the while he is stripping down to his birthday suit. I can tell you that the mentally ill can be fast and strong when they have these types of episodes. Don’t ever underestimate someone in crisis. You handle these encounters with kid gloves, because, as an officer you never know what you are walking into. The only heads up you may receive is that a citizen may be off their meds, or hearing voices. What starts out as a talking …show more content…

It appears the more that social media develops the more horrific the stories become, but what about an officer’s perspective? The inside stories are hard to come by, as many officers don’t want to talk, either because it is a brotherhood, or the violation of HIPAA laws. In the state of Texas, it is not illegal to be mentally ill, so MHU officers are there, in essence to insure civil rights aren’t violated by a third party or even their peers. In many instances, an officer who is untrained will call upon the MHU to complete an assessment alongside of MHMR. In Denton County, if the patient is being assessed at an ER, in order for an emergency detention to take place, MHMR must call upon the MHU unit. The officer assesses the situation to see that all criteria were met, and the MHU officer is the sole power of any emergency …show more content…

Simple answer is it’s expensive. Even with some government funding for law enforcement, the real problem is where to put them. There are only so many beds in Texas. The closest state hospital is Wichita Falls. Denton County has a contract with Millwood and UBH for holding until a commitment hearing, but there are only a limited amount of beds with that contract as well. A county like Dallas would need a large hospital contract for holding, and with limited beds on a state level, it would cripple the workload for the state. Sherriff William Travis of Denton County offered the following statement: “Awareness is one of my top priorities for this county. We need the state to step up and take responsibility in the mental health field. This past session of legislation we got nothing monetarily for civil beds. Our jail and all others will continue to be the dumping grounds for the mental health patients if there are no other options to

Show More
Related

Greystone Parks Psychiatric Hospital Case Study

525 Words | 3 Pages

In addition to, some Consumers are not aware of their illness. Never-the-less, in the State of New Jersey people who are deemed as a danger to themselves or others due to a mental illness is involuntarily committed to this facility by a judge who has written the orders. At “Greystone Parks Psychiatric Hospital” there are certain protocols that must be followed before people are admitted into this facility. The protocol is as follows, patients stay in either the A1/B1 units.

Read More

Officer Burkes-Personal Narrative

453 Words | 2 Pages

On 06/14/2017 around 1750 hours, I, Officer Burkes, responded to a report of a suspicious person knocking on a door at 1504 Homestead Blvd. The caller stated that a white male was bleeding all over her door and asking her to call 911. When I arrived on scene, I noticed a white male, later identified as Alex Schesny, sitting between the screen door and steele door. I asked Alex to get up and walk out to the back of my patrol car. Once on the back of my car, I retrieved my gloves out of the front seat.

Read More

Unwinding Mass Incarceration Summary

400 Words | 2 Pages

In the article, Unwinding Mass Incarceration by Stefan Lobuglio and Anne Piehl, they argue that unwinding the mass incarceration “well neither be cheap nor easy, and to be done responsibly will require a new infrastructure of coordinated community-based facilities and services that can meet evidence-based incarceration needs while also ensuring public safety.” Hence, their argument is clean-cut with evidence in the article to back up their argument of unwinding the mass incarceration. Similarly, a solid fill of a concluding statement upon the unwinding of the mass incarceration as stated in the article, “requires much more than stopping current practices or reversing course by mass commutations and early release programs.” Subsequently, from this article, there are numerous interesting key points, and perspective of unwinding the mass incarceration.

Read More

Ofc Jaque Monologue

438 Words | 2 Pages

At approx 1:15 pm ON 8-29-16, I was sitting at my desk in my office with the door closed. I heard the raised voice of someone I didn 't recognize yelling repeatedly, "get your hands off me" and similar variations of the demand. I did not hear any other voices. I then opened the door and left my office to find Ofc Jaques searching a male black subject who was now found to be the source of the yelling. Ofc Jaques could be heard sternly but calmly giving orders for the subject to comply with his orders in order to be searched prior to being held in the nearby cell.

Read More

Summary Of Cops See It Differently

1271 Words | 6 Pages

In This American Life’s series, Cops See it Differently: Act One, Ira Glass narrates particular circumstances outlining the existing tensions between the Milwaukee Police Department and the Black community. He began his first segment by telling Lisa Mahone’s story of an officer that displayed unwarranted aggressive tactics towards her and her family during a routine traffic stop. The story gained national attention, and opposing opinions to whether the officer’s actions or Lisa’s behavior were more justified. Lisa’s story begs the question: who holds the police accountable for mistreatment of the law and the citizens he or she serves?

Read More

Summary Of Jim Glennon's Arresting Communication

1211 Words | 5 Pages

Arresting communication: A Life Saving Tool Often funny, sometimes heartbreaking, and always informative, Jim Glennon’s book Arresting Communication introduces the reader to the concept of both verbal and non-verbal communication in the world of law enforcement. His down to earth approach makes it easy for a broad range of readers to understand these concepts. Anecdotal stories also help drive home the message that proper communication is key to keeping both a law enforcement officer and those interacting with them safe. The book is incredibly informative as much of this information likely will not be covered in a classroom or in a police academy, at least not as in depth as this book anyway. Early in chapter 1 of the book, Glennon states that 97% of arrests are made without the situation devolving to violence.

Read More

Sammy Yatim Case Analysis

1126 Words | 5 Pages

In today’s modern society, many feel that is okay for a police officer can kill a man armed with a harmful weapon at any cost. On many news channels, there are various amounts of articles and reports about a police officer committing this act. Even though a police officer has the right to take action against an armed man, this could be argued in many circumstances. In the 2013, Sammy Yatim was a young adult with a mental illness and was armed with a weapon on a streetcar in Toronto. Yatim was confronted by Const.

Read More

Pros And Cons Of A Correctional Officer

467 Words | 2 Pages

I have a complaint, and wish a legal ruling prior to allowing a Correctional Officer to become involved in a legal battle or worse yet, injured: Currently, the Department of Corrections has the authority and directives for Officers to use force within the building or confines of their building. In some instances, where perimeter patrols are on duty, use of force directives apply. There are strict directives for Certified Officers to use force. When certified as a PTO and off institutional grounds these directives again apply. Moreover, these directives apply directly to those inmates who are property remand into the custody of the State.

Read More

Summary Of The Documentary The New Asylums

602 Words | 3 Pages

The major problem we have today is that prisons shouldn't deal with taking care of the mentally ill, that's the mental hospital facilities job. The people that work in this type of setting need to be patient with the mentally ill. Its not easy to deal with people that are mentally ill, they require so much attention. Putting mentally ill people in a prison is the worst thing to do, it makes their mental illness worse due to being in isolation.

Read More

Racial Stereotypes: Fair And Distrust Law Enforcement

154 Words | 1 Pages

Imagine driving home from a long day, minding your own business when all of a sudden you notice a state trooper behind you with their lights on. What do you do? Do you panic or act natural? In today 's time, it doesn 't matter if you do anything wrong or not. It could be the color of your skin or the way you act and move!

Read More

Community Mental Health Act Of 1963 Essay

1349 Words | 6 Pages

The shift is attributed to the unexpected clinical needs of this new outpatient population, the inability of community mental health centers to meet these needs, and the changes in mental health laws (Pollack & Feldman, 2003). Thousands of mentally ill people flowing in and out of the nation 's jails and prisons. In many cases, it has placed the mentally ill right back where they started locked up in facilities, but these jail and prison facilities are ill-equipped to properly treat and help them. In 2006 the Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated that there were; 705,600 mentally ill inmates in state prisons, 78,000 in federal prisons, and

Read More

Mental Illness In Correctional Facilities

475 Words | 2 Pages

There are so many mentally ill people in correctional facilities because most families do not know how to help their loves ones who suffer from a mental illness, so the call the police for help. Majority of the police officers do not know what to do or how to handle people with a mental illness disease. Police officers who are not trained to deal with the mentally ill often do not recognize that person is ill. Some police officers do not recognize if the individual should or not go to jail or a treatment center or medical facility. The impact of law enforcement and the judicial system dealing with people with a mental illness is to assist the inmates with the help they need.

Read More

Mental Health Law Enforcement

1757 Words | 8 Pages

That’s a job for internal affairs and grand jury. I can say this: As a trained officer in Mental Health Officer Proficiency, I can tell you that I damn sure wouldn’t have been that close. I think I would have rounded the front of the car, and held distance, and I would have had my Taser ready, just because you are trained for dealing with mentally unstable individuals. He didn’t give himself a chance or this man a chance for a different outcome.” “Do you think the officer would have handled this differently if he was granted the opportunity of additional training like an MHU?”

Read More

Essay On Private Prisons

1359 Words | 6 Pages

Justin Jones, director for DOC, reported that private prisons in Oklahoma are all medium- or minimum-security prisons, and that stay completely away from maximum-security prisoners. These costly prisoners are shipped back to public prisons, sticking taxpayers with the cost, while the private prisons profits earn off the “easier” prisoners. This is more money out of the average American taxpayer's pocket, while the rich prison business owners make more money. However, there are still people who believe there is nothing wrong with the private prison

Read More

Argumentative Essay On A Mental Health Issue

947 Words | 4 Pages

There are more people incarcerated who have a mental illness that there are in psychiatric hospitals. (Psychology Today). Mental Health America reports that “there are more than 1.2 million people currently residing in prisons and/or jails with a mental health condition and lack of access to mental health care”. (MHA). 40% of adults with a serious mental illness will be arrested at some point in their lifetime, usually for disturbing the peace or for a petty crime which are caused by their mental illness.

Read More

More about Mental Health Law Enforcement

Open Document